So my friends Marianne and Damo told me about some free show on the beach in Bray on Saturday night, and since I had no plans and it wasn't raining, I thought sure what the hell, that sounds fun!

I had heard of the musician, Damien Dempsey, but I had never heard his music or really anything about him. Marianne warned me that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea but I went in with an open mind.

When we got to Bray, there were amusements! We didn't go on them, but I took some photos, of course. Before we left Dublin, we got some beers and such (they got beers; I got such), and we realized when we got there that there was security and no booze allowed! That was easy for me and my little bottle of whiskey, but not so much for the other guys with their big bottles of beer! So they covertly buried the bottles in the "sand" (rocks) to be retrieved after the show.

By the time Damien Dempsey was going on, it was getting dark and the Ferris wheel lit up the sky.

Well it's safe to say I'm a Damien Dempsey fan now. He was fantastic! And the crowd had this real fraternal energy that was infectious. I took photos of people jumping up and down, singing along, fists pumping.

And I also recorded the people around me: Voice001 by changela It was the kind of experience that just makes you feel closer to the people around you, feel more alive, feel more tender and raw but so, so happy.

Here was this guy I'd never seen before singing songs I'd never heard before, and yet I felt like I got his whole deal and I wanted to be part of it too. But not knowing the songs, I made another recording of people singing along: Voice002 by changela And then - the icing on the cake! Marianne tugged on my arm and called my attention to the back of the stage, and who should be standing there, singing backup but Sinéad O'Connor! Unfortunately you couldn't hear her, and he never announced that she was there (it's almost like he didn't know himself), but it was definitely her. I snapped a photo, but you can barely see her!

Still, I was thrilled. You can listen to Damien Dempsey's music (streaming) by clicking here.

Then coincidentally, some friends of theirs were playing in a pub down the street, so we went to have a gander. I chatted with a very nice guy named Allen who told me about how he is trying to convince his girlfriend to move with him to Canada. I sure hope she does! Allen, if you're out there, remember the selling points we discussed and you won't go wrong! (I'm pretty sure we outlined an entire strategy, and it was brilliant.)

Our second show was also a good time, and I'm proud to say that even after a few drinks, I am still fully able to make quality napkin earplugs for myself. Gotta take care of those ears, you know!

Unfortunately, we eschewed the last train to Dublin so it was an expensive cab ride back (luckily shared between 4 of us), but it was worth it! All in all, a fantastic night.

We once had a landlord that looked like a serial killer just escaped from prison who said something quite profound about himself that I definitely identify with. In his Wolfman Jack-possessed-by-a-demon voice, he said, "If there's shit, I'll step in it." Not surprisingly, we took that landlord to small claims court. The judge ruled in my favor, but let's just say that no one won.

Today was one of those days when we definitely had to quote our former Landlord. The weekend weather was beautiful -- sunny skies, comparably warm, just really nice weather. But did we do anything adventurous? Oh, no. We decided that on Monday we'd go to Bray.

This morning it did seem a bit cloudy when we woke up. I looked up the weather report: 50F, 50% chance of rain in the afternoon. No worries! We took off at 2pm. It was spitting rain, but we weren't too concerned. But an hour later when we reached the seaside town of Bray, it was pouring rain. Not pleasant!

Since the Monday after Easter is considered a holiday here (Easter Monday, who woulda thunk?) most things were closed, and we were quickly getting soaked and cold, so we popped into The Porterhouse for something to eat and to dry off. We were ignored by most of the wait staff, sat ourselves, but got a nice seat by a fire, then finally put in an order, but their vegetarian options were extremely limited, and the only vegan item they had were french fries. They did have some nice beer though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Temple Brau that I drank.

A little aside about the beer in Ireland. Americans think that great beer is coming out of the faucets here or something. They also seem to thing that Guinness is cheaper. Before I came over, when expressing worry over finding a job, I can't tell you how many people said things like, "Well, at least you can drink Guinness all the time!" You know, they don't give it out free at the dole office. In fact, a pint of Guinness is more expensive here than it is back home. In fact, I think pretty much all beer is more expensive here than back home, and that's not just because of the weak dollar. Secondly, in 85% of the bars here, the beer selection is utter crap, and the same ten beers. I really, really miss those wonderful craft beers, the micro-brews, and the myriad local beers from all over the place. These things can be found here, for sure, but you have to seek them out is all.

Anyhoo - We hoped that once we were done eating it might have stopped raining, but no such luck. So we walked around just long enough to get soaked again, and then headed back to the train and went home, vowing to return on the next non-rainy day!

Here are two photos that I took. Shoe in the foreground:



And a final word: if you're a regular reader, feel free to send me an email or a comment! This blog was created for friends and family but I love to hear from any other readers that I've got. Especially if you're in Dublin and you have similar interests!